English LCCC Newsbulletin For Lebanese, Lebanese Related, Global News & Editorials
For February 28/2022
Compiled & Prepared by: Elias Bejjani
#elias_bejjani_news

The Bulletin's Link on the lccc Site
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/aaaanewsfor2021/english.february28.22.htm

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Bible Quotations For today
Whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward
Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 06/16-21: "‘Whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. ‘Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on February 27-28/2022
What Are The Religious Concepts Of The Ash Monday/Elias Bejjani/February 28/2022
Cana Wedding Miracle/The Forgiveness (Marfaa) Sunday/Elias Bejjani/February 27/2022
With Russia’s Barbaric Invasion of Ukraine, the World Has Returned To The Law of the jungle and to The Pre-Stone Ages/Elias Bejjani/February 26/2022
Russian Ambassador Says Lebanese Statement Won't Affect Ties
Lebanese and Arab Students in Ukraine Desperate to Go Home
Lebanon wins over Saudi Arabia in Basketball World Cup qualifiers
Zaki: Arab League supports Kuwaiti initiative to end Lebanon's crisis with the Gulf
Kanaan says waiting until after the elections to finalize agreement with IMF a ‘huge mistake’

Titles For The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on February 27-28/2022
Russian President Putin orders nuclear forces on high alert
Ukraine army secures Kharkiv, as Kyiv continues to hold its defense
Ukraine Lodges Case Against Russia In The Hague, Hails International 'Coalition' Support
Zelenskiy Says Russia’s Actions Bear Signs of ‘Genocide, Rejects Talks in Belarus
Ukrainian Official: Russian Troops Enter Ukraine’s Kharkiv
Turkey, Overseeing Passage to Black Sea, Calls Russian Invasion ‘War’
EU funds purchase of weapons for Ukraine, steps up Russia sanctions, targets Belarus
US, allies target ‘fortress Russia’ with new sanctions, including SWIFT
Japan sanctions Russia’s Putin over Ukraine invasion
UK Says Russia Needs to Withdraw From Ukraine for Any Talks
Danish PM says volunteers can join Ukraine fight
Ukraine Asks Israel's to Broker Ceasefire with Russia
Ankara Offers to Mediate between Moscow, Kyiv
Iran’s nuclear negotiator returns to Vienna for talks on resolving remaining issues
Washington Hopes Iran’s Lead Negotiator Returns to Vienna Talks with ‘Positive View’
Libya, Morocco Sign Agreement to Protect Human Rights

Titles For The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on February 27-28/2022
Migrants Desecrate More Than 2,000 Churches Just in Greece/Raymond Ibrahim/Gatestone Institute/February 27, 2022
Ukraine Crisis Has Sent Shockwaves/Omer Onhon/Asharq Al-Awsat/February 27/2022
Putin Can Safely Ignore Russian Critics of His War -- For Now/Leonid Bershidsky/Bloomberg/February 27/2022
Russia Invaded Ukraine. What Happens Next?/Abdulrahman Al-Rashed/Asharq Al-Awsat/February 27/2022
Putin’s Refugees Will Make or Break Europe/Andreas Kluth/Bloomberg/February 27/2022
While standing up to Putin the West must leave the hypocrisy behind/Rami Rayess/Al Arabiya/ February 27/,2022
West has to confront the Iranian regime immediately/Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/February 27, 2022

The Latest English LCCC Lebanese & Lebanese Related News & Editorials published on February 27-28/2022
What Are The Religious Concepts Of The Ash Monday/مفاهيم اثنين الرماد الإيمانية
Elias Bejjani/February 28/2022
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/72716/elias-bejjani-what-is-the-ash-monday/

Ash Monday is the first day of Lent and It is a moveable feast, falling on a different date each year because it is dependent on the date of Easter. It derives its name from the practice of placing ashes on the foreheads of adherents as a sign of mourning and repentance to God.
On The Ash Monday the priest ceremonially marks with wet ashes on the worshippers’ foreheads a visible cross while saying “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return (genesis03/19)”.
Worshippers are reminded of their sinfulness and mortality and thus, implicitly, of their need to repent in time.
Ash Monday (Greek: Καθαρά Δευτέρα), is also known as Clean and Pure Monday.
The common term for this day, refers to the leaving behind of sinful attitudes and non-fasting foods.
Our Maronite Catholic Church is notable amongst the Eastern rites employing the use of ashes on this day.
(In the Western Catholic Churches this day falls on Wednesday and accordingly it is called the “Ash Wednesday”)
Ash Monday is a Christian holy day of prayer, fasting, contemplating of transgressions and repentance.
Ash Monday is a reminder that we should begin Lent with good intentions and a desire to clean our spiritual house. It is a day of strict fasting including abstinence not only from meat but from eggs and dairy products as well.
Liturgically, Ash Monday—and thus Lent itself—begins on the preceding (Sunday) night, at a special service called Forgiveness Vespers, which culminates with the Ceremony of Mutual Forgiveness, at which all present will bow down before one another and ask forgiveness. In this way, the faithful begin Lent with a clean conscience, with forgiveness, and with renewed Christian love.
The entire first week of Great Lent is often referred to as “Clean Week”, and it is customary to go to Confession during this week, and to clean the house thoroughly.
The Holy Bible stresses the conduct of humility and not bragging for not only during the fasting period, but every day and around the clock.
It is worth mentioning that Ashes were used in ancient times to express grief. When Tamar was raped by her half-brother, “she sprinkled ashes on her head, tore her robe, and with her face buried in her hands went away crying” (2 Samuel 13:19).
Examples of the Ash practices among Jews are found in several other books of the Bible, including Numbers 19:9, 19:17, Jonah 3:6, Book of Esther 4:1, and Hebrews 9:13.
Jesus is quoted as speaking of the Ash practice in Matthew 11:21 and Luke 10:13: “If the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.”
Below are the Maronite Church Readings On The Ash Monday
Ash Monday/You are dust, and to dust you shall return
Genesis 03/03/19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return
Fasting/Lay Up Treasures in Heaven
Matthew 06/1621/And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God
02 Corinthians 05/20-21/Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
02 Corinthians 06/01-07/Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.”Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left;
N.B: The above piece was first published in year 2000/It is republished with Minor changes

Cana Wedding Miracle/The Forgiveness (Marfaa) Sunday
Elias Bejjani/February 27/2022 (From 2012 Archives)
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/83444/elias-bejjani-cana-wedding-miracle-the-forgiveness-marfaa-sunday-%d8%a3%d8%ad%d8%af-%d8%a7%d9%84%d9%85%d8%b1%d9%81%d8%b9-%d9%88%d9%85%d8%b9%d8%a7%d9%86%d9%8a-%d8%a7%d9%84%d8%b5%d9%88%d9%85/
Lent period starts with the Cana Holy Wedding Miracle and ends with the Holy Easter Day.
Lent in the Maronite Church rite starts this year on the ASH Monday, February 25/2020.
The Sunday that comes before the beginning of the lent period is called the raising (أحد المرفع) or forgiveness Sunday (أحد الغفران)
Fasting is a battle of spiritual engagement through which we seek to imitate Jesus Christ who fought Satan’s temptations while fasting in the wilderness.
He triumphed over Satan, and we faithfully endeavour during the Lent period to tame and defeat our earthly instincts and make our hearts, conscience and thinking pure, immaculate and pious
The lent period is a spiritual battle that we chose to fight our own selves and all its bodily and earthly instinctual pleasures in a bid to abstain from all acts and thoughts of sin
Lent in principle is a Holy period that is ought to be utilized with God in genuine contemplation, self humility, repentance, penances, forgiveness, praying and conciliation with self and others.
Lent is a privileged time of interior pilgrimage towards Jesus Who is the fountain of all love, forgiveness and mercy.
Lent is a pilgrimage in which Jesus Himself accompanies us through the desert of our poverty while sustaining us on our way towards the intense joy of Easter.
We fastand trust that the Lord is our loving Shepherd.
“Psalm 23:04: Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for you are with me; your rod and staff comfort me.”
Lent is ought to strengthen our hope and faith in a bid to fight Satan and to keep away from his ways of sin and despair.
Praying and contemplation teaches us that Almighty God is there to guard us and to lead our steps during the entire Lenten period.
Readind the Holy Bible and praying offers us God’s Word with particular abundance and empowers our souls and minds with His Word.
Mark 13:31: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away”
By meditating and internalizing the Word Of God we learn precious and irreplaceable forms of prayer.
By attentively listening to God, who continues to speak to our hearts, we nourish the itinerary of faith initiated on the day of our Baptism.
Prayers and fasting allow us to gain a new concept of time and directs our steps towards horizons of hope and joy that have no limits
When we fast and pray, we find time for God, to understand that his words will not pass away.
Through fasting and praying we can enter into that intimate communion with Jesus so that no one shall take from us the faith and hope that does not disappoint.

With Russia’s Barbaric Invasion of Ukraine, the World Has Returned To The Law of the jungle and to The Pre-Stone Ages
Elias Bejjani/February 26/2022
http://eliasbejjaninews.com/archives/106605/elias-bejjani-with-russias-barbaric-invasion-of-ukraine-the-world-has-returned-t-the-law-of-the-jungle-and-to-the-pre-stone-ages/
What has been happening in Ukraine for the two days is a mere brutal and heinous crime, that is void of humanity, fear of God, reason, logic, conscience, and all human rights. It is a crime against humanity in accordance to all standards, norms and laws.
This brutal crime is openly unfolding, while the world leaders, and the United Nations, are watching from far away, and not taking any actual action to stop Russia’s Hitler, and put an end to his viciousness.
All the free world countries, and in particular the European Union’s 27 countries, the United States, and the United Nations, are merely silent, and in reality they did encourage the invader and have blessed his invasion. They are watching with shameful cowardice and silence, the most horrific forms of killing, destruction, displacement, and all kinds of human rights atrocities and infringement.
The arrogant and paranoid Putin, has used in his barbaric invasion all sorts of destructive weapons, with the exception of the nuclear one. His main aim is humiliating, oppressing and subduing the Ukrainian people who are yearning for freedom and democracy.
The Ukrainian’s crime in Putin’s sick mind is that they thought, yes, just a thought, of joining the European Union, and the NATO, where there is future, civilization, democracy, progress, civilization, science and freedoms. Russia’s Hitler is punishing the Ukrainians’ for their yearning for freedom and For a decent-peaceful life.He invaded their country to drag them back, and by force, to the rotten fallen oppressive communism era.
What is scary about all that is happening in Ukraine is that the silence of the European countries, and the USA, and with them all the countries of the free world, who did not do anything to defend Ukraine and its people, except with rhetoric condemning statements void of any practical value.
Sadly, the leaders of all the Free world countries, especially Mr. Biden and his European counterparts has, publicly assured Russia’s Hitler that they would not participate in any military actions, which simply means blessing his bloody war, and giving him bundles of green lights to continue in committing his barbaric crime. Shameful, and deplorable is this worldwide silence, through which all leaders are watching the crime scene and doing nothing. Shame on all countries and their leaders for their cowardice and abandonment of the people of Ukraine.
The question is, what has happened to the United Nations, where is the respect for the Charter of the human rights, where is the international peace structure, where is the freedom of people, where is the principle of self-determination, and where are the international peace agreements? Unfortunately, all of them are currently buried in the drawers. Silence has fell on the world leaders, who shamefully swallowed their tongues and blessed the invader and hailed his madness, greed and criminality. With what is happening in Ukraine, we can say freely that in the twenty-first century the world has returned to the law of the jungle, and to the pre-stone ages.

Aoun Calls for Resolving Russia-Ukraine Conflict through Dialogue
Naharnet/27 February ,2022
President Michel Aoun has said that Lebanon’s “clear stance” is in favor of resolving the Russian-Ukrainian conflict through “dialogue,” following the latest controversy over a Lebanese Foreign Ministry statement that condemned over its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
“Lebanon has faced difficult disputes, confrontations and security incidents that all ended through dialogue,” Aoun added, in an interview with the Asas Media news website. “That’s why Lebanon supports political negotiations to resolve the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine, in line with the principles specified in the U.N. Charter and the relevant international laws that calls for peaceful means in resolving conflicts between nations,” the President said. Asked about the upcoming parliamentary elections in Lebanon, Aoun notes that “Cabinet has appointed the members of the Supervisory Commission for Elections.”“I can sleep well at night now that I have completed all my duties as to holding the elections, but if someone wants to impede them that will not be my fault,” the President added. Reminiscing the Christian boycott of the 1992 elections, Aoun said he fears the postponement of the polls under only one scenario: a Sunni boycott of the vote. “No one can bear a Sunni boycott. We saw what happened in 1992,” he added. Asked whether the growing disagreements with Hizbullah might lead to an end to the alliance with the Iran-backed party, Aoun briefly answered: “Isolating Hizbullah would lead to a civil war. Should we go to civil war?”He added that Hizbullah is “dealing positively” with the issue of Lebanon’s indirect negotiations with Israel over the demarcation of the maritime border, a move that is indispensable if Lebanon wants to make use of its offshore gas resources. “Hizbullah is rational and it has left it to the government to deal with this file. It will back what will be decided in this regard in light of the negotiations and the official line that will be adopted, be it 23 or another one,” Aoun said. Asked about the “national treason” accusations that targeted him for giving up Line 29 and endorsing Line 23, the President noted that “the objective is to reach a solution that would allow for launching oil exploration as soon as possible according to the recognized line that is registered at the U.N.”“Lebanon, which is drowning in its many pits and crises, is running out of time,” Aoun went on to say.

Russian Ambassador Says Lebanese Statement Won't Affect Ties
Naharnet/February 27/2022
Russian Ambassador to Lebanon Alexander Rudakov has said that a Lebanese Foreign Ministry statement condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “does not take into consideration the cordial and historic bilateral relations between the two countries.”
“It will not affect our relation,” the ambassador, however, added. “During the difficult days, we know who is with us and who is against us,” Rudakov went on to say. In the statement that was issued Thursday, the Lebanese Foreign Ministry condemned Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine and called on Moscow to “immediately halt military operations.”Lebanon calls on Moscow to “withdraw its forces and return to the approach of dialogue and negotiations, as the best means to resolve the current conflict,” the statement added. The statement sparked controversy in the Lebanese political arena, with many parties openly criticizing it, most notably Hizbullah and its allies.

Lebanese and Arab Students in Ukraine Desperate to Go Home
Agence France Presse/27 February ,2022
Thousands of young Arabs who took up studies in Ukraine, often fleeing violence back home, are appealing to be rescued from a new nightmare -- Russia's full scale invasion of the country. More than 10,000 Arab students attend university in Ukraine, drawn to the former Soviet republic by a low cost of living and, for many, the lure of relative safety compared with their own troubled homelands. Many have criticized their governments for failing to take concrete measures to repatriate them, and sought refuge in basements or the metro system. Few dared to cross the border into neighboring Poland or Romania in search of sanctuary. "We left Iraq to escape war... but it's the same thing in Ukraine (now)," Ali Mohammed, an Iraqi student told AFP by telephone from the western city of Chernivtsi. Mohammed said he has been calling the Iraqi embassy in Kyiv around a dozen times a day since Russia launched the invasion but no one has picked up. "We are demanding to go home. We are waiting to be rescued," he said. According to an Iraqi government official, there are 5,500 Iraqis in Ukraine, 450 of them students. Syrian Raed al-Moudaress, 24, echoed him. "I arrived in Odessa only six months ago, hoping to open a new page far away from war," he told AFP by telephone. "I am lost. I don't know what to do," he said, adding he is spending most of his time hiding in a basement. Among Arab countries, Morocco has the largest number of students in Ukraine, with around 8,000 enrolled in universities, followed by Egypt with more than 3,000. "We demand solutions. The authorities must find us a solution," to get back home to Morocco, Majda tweeted when the invasion began on Thursday. "What are you waiting for? This is World War III," she said, addressing authorities in her country, who announced measures the following day.
'Stay safe'
Hundreds of students from Lebanon, gripped by a financial crisis the World Bank says is one of the world's worst in modern times, are also trapped in the country. "The (Lebanese) authorities have not issued guidelines" for our evacuation, said Samir, 25. "I left Lebanon because of the financial crisis, sold my car and took my small savings to study in Ukraine," he told AFP from Ukraine's second city of Kharkiv, near the Russian border. Ali Chreim, a restaurant owner from Kyiv who heads the Lebanese expat community in Ukraine, said he has been helping a group of young Lebanese women, who have sought shelter in the capital's metro, by sending them food. Before the invasion, 1,300 Lebanese students were studying in the country. Half managed to flee by their own means, but the rest are stuck, Chreim said. Lebanon set up a hotline but it only functions "intermittently," he added. Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said the government was drawing up plans to help nationals trapped in Ukraine. Planes will be sent to neighboring Poland and Romania at a "date to be announced later," he said.
'Help us'
Other countries like Egypt have also pledged to organize repatriation flights from neighboring countries. But for Tunisia which does not have an embassy in Ukraine, getting in touch with its 1,700 citizens there is complicated. Authorities said they had been in contact with international organizations such as the Red Cross to organize departures. "We will begin the operation as soon as we have a full list of how many Tunisians wish to return home," foreign ministry official Mohammed Trabelsi told AFP. Despairing students have posted video footage online pleading for help. "The supermarket shelves are empty, the streets have become dangerous. The embassy must help us get out of here," said two pharmacy students from Egypt stuck in the Black Sea port of Odessa. Other Egyptian students took matters into their own hands and crossed the border into Poland, hoping to make it back home.
Oil-rich Algeria, which has strong military links with Russia, did not ask its 1,000 nationals in Ukraine to leave. Algerian authorities have, however, urged them to stay indoors and only venture out "in case of an emergency."

Lebanon wins over Saudi Arabia in Basketball World Cup qualifiers
NNA/27 February ,2022
The Lebanese basketball team reaped its third victory over its host Saudi Arabia (81-68) in the match that took place between them this evening in Jeddah, in the second stage of the Asian qualifiers for the World Championship hosted by the Philippines.
The victory came in time for Cedars’ team after it stumbled last Friday against its Jordanian host in Amman, knowing that it began its journey with two victories at home in the “Nouhad Naufal” complex in Zouk Mikael. The players gave a distinguished performance from all distances on the field and finalized the match from its third round.

Zaki: Arab League supports Kuwaiti initiative to end Lebanon's crisis with the Gulf

NNA/27 February ,2022
Assistant Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, Ambassador Hossam Zaki, affirmed the League's support for the Kuwaiti initiative to resolve the crisis between Lebanon and the Arab Gulf states, which was proposed by Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Ahmed Nasser Al-Mohammed Al-Sabah last January, and to which Kuwait received a response from the Lebanese side.Zaki hoped, in a statement to the office of the Egyptian "Middle East News Agency" in Lebanon, that "things will improve and head for the better,” adding that “the Arab League understands the basics of the Kuwaiti initiative and has communicated with the Kuwaiti and Lebanese sides in an effort to overcome the dispute and mobilize the Arab ranks to support Lebanon, which is an essential pillar in the joint Arab work system."He continued to indicate that "the League of Arab States is constantly following-up on the developments of the situation in Lebanon," pointing to "Lebanon's keenness on holding the parliamentary elections at their expected date upcoming May.""The Arab League is ready to participate with observers in the upcoming elections through a trained team with prominent experience," stated Zaki, stressing "the League's continuous support for Lebanon in the steps that lead it to stability and serve the interest of the Lebanese people."

Kanaan says waiting until after the elections to finalize agreement with IMF a ‘huge mistake’
NNA/27 February ,2022
MP Ibrahim Kanaan considered today that waiting till after the parliamentary elections to complete the agreement with the International Monetary Fund is a significantly wrong move. "We have heard many warnings in this regard, because our losses are increasing daily by hundreds of thousands of dollars, in addition to the disintegration of the state," he said. Kanaan’s words came in an interview this morning with “Voice of All Lebanon" Radio Channel. Referring to the draft budget for the year 2022, Kanaan indicated that it has not yet been forwarded to Parliament, noting that "the general budget is devoid of any economic reform perspective and does not include a vision for economic advancement, but mere arithmetic limited to compiling numbers," criticizing "the raising of the customs dollar and the tax dollar in light of a totally tightened economy.”
He explained that "the parliament cannot include a reform vision within the budget, nor a negotiation plan with the International Monetary Fund, since this is one of the government's duties."Pointing to the forensic audit, he deemed it “necessary to end the chaos of the no-figure state."
Touching on the electoral deadline, Kanaan said that “there are no complete lists for any party so far,” noting that “the nominations will be submitted successively until March 15,” adding that “the Free Patriotic Movement is following-up on its electoral mechanism awaiting the first and second poll referendums whose results will be out in the coming days, including supporters and non-supporters.”Asked about the position of the Lebanese Foreign Ministry on the Russian-Ukrainian developments, Kanaan considered that "Lebanon is a country that has suffered a lot as a result of wars, crises and occupations, and knows the value of peace, sovereignty and freedom for which it paid a heavy price…Therefore, it is necessary to reconcile between the Charter of the United Nations, of which Lebanon is a member, and the Lebanese interest, which requires the preservation of Lebanon's relations with its friends…The solution to the ongoing conflict must be within the framework of dialogue between Russia and Ukraine in accordance with internationally approved mechanisms.”He added: "What is required is to focus on addressing our internal problems, giving them priority, holding the parliamentary elections on time, and setting a road map for getting out of the financial collapse and restoring the deposits of the Lebanese, instead of fighting over an external conflict…We sympathize with those affected by it, but it is an international issue that is dealt with according to international laws, and our position has no impact on it."

The Latest English LCCC Miscellaneous Reports And News published on February 27-28/2022
Russian President Putin orders nuclear forces on high alert
AFP, Moscow/27 February ,2022
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his defense chiefs to put the country’s nuclear “deterrence forces” on high alert on Sunday and accused the West of taking “unfriendly” steps against his country. International tensions are already soaring over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and Putin’s order will cause further alarm. Moscow has the world’s second-largest arsenal of nuclear weapons and a huge cache of ballistic missiles which form the backbone of the country’s deterrence forces. “I order the defense minister and the chief of the general staff of the Russian armed forces to put the deterrence forces of the Russian army into a special mode of combat service,” Putin said. “You see that Western countries are not only unfriendly to our country in the economic sphere -- I mean illegitimate sanctions,” he added, in a televised address. “Senior officials of leading NATO countries also allow aggressive statements against our country.”
Defence Minister Shoigu replied: “Affirmative.”The Russian president on Thursday ordered the invasion of Ukraine, sending shockwaves around the world. Russian ground forces have pressed into Ukraine from the north, east and south but have encountered fierce resistance from Ukrainian troops, the intensity of which has likely surprised Moscow, according to Western sources. Ukrainian authorities describe some Russian troops as demoralized and exhausted, claiming that dozens have surrendered.

Ukraine army secures Kharkiv, as Kyiv continues to hold its defense
Agencies/27 February ,2022
Ukrainian forces had secured full control of Kharkiv on Sunday following street fighting with Russian troops in the country’s second-biggest city, the local governor said.“Kharkiv is fully under our control,” the head of the regional administration, Oleg Sinegubov, said on Telegram, adding that the army was expelling Russian forces during a “clean-up” operation. Meanwhile, on Sunday, the mayor of Kyiv also said that there were no Russian troops in the Ukrainian capital, which was holding its defense against attacks. Vitaly Klitschko said that in total 31 people died in the capital since the attacks started, including nine civilians, while 106 people had been injured. “Our military, law enforcement and territorial defense continue to detect and neutralize saboteurs,” he wrote on his Telegram channel.

Ukraine Lodges Case Against Russia In The Hague, Hails International 'Coalition' Support
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 27 February, 2022
Ukraine has lodged a complaint against Russia at the International Court of Justice in The Hague to get it to halt its invasion, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday. "Russia must be held accountable for manipulating the notion of genocide to justify aggression," Zelensky declared in a tweet. "We request an urgent decision ordering Russia to cease military activity now and expect trials to start next week. The ICJ, which is based in the Netherlands capital The Hague, does not have a mandate to bring criminal charges against individual Russian leaders behind the four-day-old invasion. But it is the world's top court for resolving legal complaints between states over alleged breaches of international law. It is the supreme judicial institution of the United Nations. The Kremlin has tried to justify its operation to "demilitarize" Ukraine as an attempt to prevent the alleged persecution of the country's Russian-speaking minority.
But the international community has roundly condemned the invasion as a flagrant breach of international law, and many Ukrainian civilians have volunteered to defend their country. Also on Sunday, Zelensky hailed the assistance Ukraine was receiving from its international allies as Russia's invading forces pressed on with an assault. "This is already real. We are receiving weapons, medicine, food, diesel, and money," Zelensky said in a video address. "A powerful coalition in support of Ukraine has been formed -- an anti-war coalition."

Zelenskiy Says Russia’s Actions Bear Signs of ‘Genocide, Rejects Talks in Belarus
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 27 February, 2022
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged the world on Sunday to scrap Russia's voting power at the UN Security Council and said Russian actions verged on "genocide.""This is terror. They are going to bomb our Ukrainian cities even more, they are going to kill our children even more subtly. This is the evil that has come to our land and must be destroyed," Zelenskiy said on a short video message."Russia's criminal actions against Ukraine bear signs of genocide," he added, Reuters reported. Also, an adviser to Zelenskiy told Reuters on Sunday that Ukraine wants only "real" negotiations with Russia over its military offensive, without ultimatums, calling Moscow's decision to send a delegation to Belarus for talks "propaganda". Earlier the Kremlin said a Russian delegation had arrived in Gomel in neighboring Belarus and was waiting for the
Ukrainians.
Zelenskiy rejected talks in Belarus, accusing it of allowing Russian troops through its territory to invade. However, he left the door open for negotiations elsewhere. "They arrived in Gomel knowing that it was pointless. And now they say - 'we are waiting,'" adviser Mykhailo Podolyak told Reuters. "Zelenskiy's position remains unchanged: only real negotiations, no ultimatums."For his part, Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko called on Kyiv on Sunday to sit down and hold talks with Russia so that Ukraine does not lose its statehood, Russia's RIA news agency reported.

Ukrainian Official: Russian Troops Enter Ukraine’s Kharkiv
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 27 February, 2022
Ukrainian forces were battling Russian troops on the streets of Ukraine's northeastern city of Kharkiv on Sunday, said regional governor Oleh Sinegubov. "The Russian enemy's light vehicles have broken into Kharkiv, including the city center," Sinegubov said. "Ukraine's armed forces are destroying the enemy. We ask civilians not to go out."Videos published by Anton Herashchenko, adviser to the interior minister, and Ukraine's State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection showed several light military vehicles moving along a street and, separately, a burning tank, Reuters reported.

Turkey, Overseeing Passage to Black Sea, Calls Russian Invasion ‘War’
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 27 February, 2022
Turkey called Russia's invasion of Ukraine a "war" on Sunday in a rhetorical shift that could pave the way for the NATO member nation to enact an international pact limiting Russian naval passage to the Black Sea. Under the 1936 Montreux Convention, Turkey has control over the Dardanelles and Bosphorus straits that connect the Mediterranean and Black seas and can limit the passage of warships during wartime or if threatened. Balancing its Western commitments and close ties to Moscow, Ankara has said the Russian attack is unacceptable but until Sunday had not described the situation as a war, according to Reuters. "On the fourth day of the Ukraine war, we repeat President (Tayyip) Erdogan's call for an immediate halt of Russian attacks and the start of ceasefire negotiations," presidential spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin said on Twitter. Fahrettin Altun, Turkey's communications director, said "we are witnessing yet another war in our region", and repeated Erdogan's offer to mediate. Kyiv has appealed to Ankara to block any more Russian warships from passing toward the Black Sea, from which Moscow has launched one of its incursions on Ukraine's southern coast. But Turkey's foreign minister said on Friday that Russia had the right under Montreux to return ships to their home base, which could limit any Turkish policy shift. Turkey has cultivated good ties with both Russia and Ukraine. Any step too far against Moscow could harm its heavy energy and commodity imports and its tourism sector at a time of domestic economic turmoil.

EU funds purchase of weapons for Ukraine, steps up Russia sanctions, targets Belarus
Tuqa Khalid, Al Arabiya English/27 February ,2022
The European Union will shut down its airspace to Russian aircraft and ban Russian state-owned media in the bloc, in addition to stepping up support to Ukraine and targeting Moscow ally Belarus with sanctions, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said on Sunday. “We are stepping up our support for Ukraine. For the first time ever, the EU will finance the purchase and delivery of weapons and other equipment to a country under attack… We are also strengthening our sanctions against the Kremlin,” she told reports in a press conference. The EU will shut down its airspace for Russian owned, Russian registered and Russian controlled aircraft, including aircraft owned by Russian oligarchs.The EU will also ban the “Kremlin’s media machine,” this entails banning state-owned Russia Today and Sputnik and their subsidiaries, “[RT and Sputnik] will no longer be able to spread their lies to justify [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s war and to sow division in our union,” she said. Von der Leyen also announced that the EU will “target the other aggressor”, namely Russian ally Belarus with sanctions. “[Belarus President Alexander] Lukashenko’s regime is complicit in the vicious attack against Ukraine. So we will hit Lukashenko’s regime with a new package of sanctions,” she said, adding that the sanctions will target a variety of sectors, restricting their exports from mineral fuel to tobacco, wooden timbre, iron and steel. The EU will also sanction Belarusian individuals helping the Russian war effort. The new sanctions come on top of the measures announced by the EU on Saturday, including excluding main Russian banks from the SWIFT system, and banning the transactions of Russia’s central bank and freezing its assets, in addition to targeting the assets of Russian oligarchs. Russia’s began its invasion of Ukraine on Thursday bringing explosions and setting off air raid sirens in Kyiv and other cities, and leading to dozens of Ukrainian casualties both civilian and military. Putin ordered earlier on Sunday Russian nuclear forces on high alert, citing NATO’s “aggressive [and] illegitimate sanctions” against Russia as the cause.

US, allies target ‘fortress Russia’ with new sanctions, including SWIFT
Reuters, Washington, Brussels/Published: 27 February ,2022
The United States and its allies on Saturday moved to block certain Russian banks’ access to the SWIFT international payment system in further punishment of Moscow as it continues its military assault against Ukraine. The measures, which will include restrictions on the Russian central bank’s international reserves, will be implemented in the coming days, the nations said in a joint statement that also vowed further action to come. “We will hold Russia to account and collectively ensure that this war is a strategic failure for Putin,” the leaders of the European Commission, France, Germany, Italy, Great Britain, Canada and the United States wrote. “Even beyond the measures we are announcing today, we are prepared to take further measures to hold Russia to account for its attack on Ukraine.”The move comes after the US and its allies slapped sanctions this week on major Russian banks as well as on President Vladimir Putin, among others, as Moscow’s forces pushed into the heart of Ukraine toward Kyiv. “As Russian forces unleash their assault on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities, we are resolved to continue imposing massive costs on Russia. Costs that will further isolate Russia from the international financial system and our economies,” said Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, the European Union’s executive. The actions are aimed at preventing Putin from using $630 billion in central bank foreign currency reserves in the invasion of Ukraine and to defend a plunging rouble. Cutting Russian banks out of the SWIFT system - the world’s main international payments network - deals a blow to Russian trade and makes it harder for Russian companies to do business. “Putin’s government is getting kicked off the international financial system,” a senior U.S. administration official said.
SWIFT, or the “Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication,” is a secure messaging system that facilitates rapid cross-border payments, making international trade flow smoothly and transferring trillions of dollars each year in what has become the principal mechanism for financing international trade.“We are engaging with European authorities to understand the details of the entities that will be subject to the new measures and we are preparing to comply upon legal instruction,” SWIFT said in a statement.
The US official told reporters that if one of the banks cut off from SWIFT wants to make a payment with a bank outside of Russia, it will likely need to use a phone or fax machine. But the official said most banks worldwide would likely stop all transactions with Russian banks removed from the network.
The US and its allies will finalize the list of banks that will be cut off from SWIFT, the official said, adding that banks already under US and European sanctions would be the first ones considered. US President Joe Biden announced sanctions on Thursday that were aimed at limiting Russia’s ability to do business in dollars, euros, pounds and yen. Among the targets were five major Russian banks including state-backed Sberbank and VTB, the country’s two largest lenders. At the time, Biden said there was no agreement to take action on SWIFT - suggesting that the view of allies who were holdouts had since turned heavily against Putin. The new measures will stop Russia from “using its war chest,” von der Leyen said, paralyzing the assets of its central bank, freezing its transactions and making it impossible for the central bank to liquidate its assets.“We’re disarming fortress Russia by taking this action,” the US official said, adding that other actions targeting the central bank could be finalized over the weekend. The allies on Saturday also pledged to limit the sale of citizenship via so-called golden passports used by some wealthy Russians to gain residency in Western nations and access to their financial systems.
The partners will also launch a task force to “identify, hunt down and freeze the assets of sanctioned Russian companies and oligarchs, their yachts, their mansions, and any ill-gotten gains that we can find and freeze.”EU foreign ministers will discuss the sanctions package at a virtual meeting on Sunday evening, the fourth time they come together in a week. Edward Fishman, an Atlantic Council fellow who worked on Russia sanctions at the State Department during the Obama administration, said the measures announced on Saturday are a significant escalation.By signaling their joint commitment to the moves, Fishman said, the West was “giving Putin one more chance to back down before they unleash the full range of the economic arsenal on Russia.”

Japan sanctions Russia’s Putin over Ukraine invasion
Tuqa Khalid, Al Arabiya English/February 27/2022
Japan will sanction Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and key government officials over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, Prime Minister Kishida Fumio announced on Sunday. Japan will freeze the financial assets of Putin and the government officials, and it will join the West in blocking main Russian banks from the SWIFT international payment network. “Russia's invasion of Ukraine is a unilateral attempt to change the status quo by force and shakes the foundation of international order,” Fumio said according to Japan’s public broadcaster NHK. “Japan will provide $100 million as emergency humanitarian aid for the people of Ukraine, in addition to the yen-denominated loans worth about $100 million that have already been pledged,” the PM added. Japan’s stance comes on the fourth day of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and after the US and the EU have announced extensive sanctions against Moscow. The European Union will shut down its airspace to Russian aircraft and ban Russian state-owned media in the bloc, in addition to stepping up support to Ukraine and targeting Moscow ally Belarus with sanctions, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said on Sunday. The US had already introduced sanctions aimed at preventing Putin from using $630 billion in central bank foreign currency reserves amid a crumbling rouble, in addition to the cutting off main Russian banks from SWIFT. US President Joe Biden had indicated that imposing sanctions on Putin himself remains an option on the table and will be studied according to developments on the ground. Putin ordered earlier on Sunday Russian nuclear forces on high alert, citing NATO’s “aggressive [and] illegitimate sanctions” against Russia as the cause.

UK Says Russia Needs to Withdraw From Ukraine for Any Talks
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 27 February, 2022
British foreign minister Liz Truss said on Sunday there could be no talks with Russia over Ukraine while Moscow has troops in its neighbor. Truss also said she had drawn up a "hit list" of Russian oligarchs and every few weeks the government would target their private jets, their properties and other possessions. The conflict could be protracted, she said. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, under pressure over a series of parties at his Downing Street office and residence when Britain was under a strict COVID-19 lockdown, has wanted to take a lead in the West's response to the Ukraine crisis. "Now if the Russians are serious about negotiations they need to remove their troops from Ukraine. They cannot negotiate with a gun to the head of the Ukrainians...So frankly, I don't trust these so-called efforts of negotiation," she told Sky News. "I've compiled a hit list of oligarchs ... We are working through putting the cases together and every few weeks we will sanction new oligarchs. There will be a rolling program of sanctions ...There will be nowhere to hide," she said, Reuters reported. But she said that sanctions would take time to degrade not only the Russian economy but also its "war machine".
"This could be a number of years, because what we do know is Russia have strong forces and we know that the Ukrainians are brave and they are determined to stand up for their sovereignty and territorial integrity."

Danish PM says volunteers can join Ukraine fight
AFP/Published: 27 February ,2022
Denmark will let its nationals join international brigades forming to fight in Ukraine against Russian forces, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Sunday. “It's a choice that anyone can make. This goes for all Ukrainians who live here, but also for others who think they can contribute directly to the conflict,” she said in a press conference Sunday. “There is nothing at first sight that would legally prevent someone from going to Ukraine to participate in the conflict, on the Ukrainian side,” she added. Earlier Sunday, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky urged foreigners to head to Ukrainian embassies worldwide to sign up for an “international brigade” of volunteers to help fight invading Russian forces. He had previously called on foreigners with combat experience to come to help defend his country. Danish PM Frederiksen earlier joined 10,000 people in front of the Russian embassy in Copenhagen to condemn the invasion. “It is all of you and all of Europe who are threatened by Russia”, she told the crowd. “We cry with you”, she said, addressing Ukrainians.

Ukraine Asks Israel's to Broker Ceasefire with Russia
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 27 February, 2022
Ukraine's ambassador to Israel, Yevgen Korniychuk, confirmed that his country wants Israel to intercede on behalf of Kyiv with Russian President Vladimir Putin and halt the invasion. Korniychuk said his country is looking forward to Israel's diplomatic mediation efforts. "We always look to Israel as one of the most prominent possible intermediaries for Mr. Putin." Korniychuk stated that Ukraine was glad to hear Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid's condemnation of Russia's attack. But what is more critical is the extent of the behind-the-scenes diplomacy that Israel can accomplish on behalf of Ukraine by speaking to Moscow on its behalf, he explained. The envoy's statement reinforced Israeli reports about an official Ukrainian request for Israel's mediation. The Israeli Kan channel said that Ukraine asked Israel to mediate with Russia to reach a ceasefire. The channel quoted Israeli and Ukrainian sources saying that the request for Israeli mediation was made on the call between President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Friday. Zelenskyy suggested holding the talks in Jerusalem rather than Minsk, the capital of Belarus, a close ally of Moscow. The Ukrainian request came after Tel Aviv mediated several times between Russia and Ukraine in recent years. Israeli media confirmed that former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Bennett, were in contact with the relevant authorities in the two countries and suggested several times that Tel Aviv help ease tensions between them. Korniychuk confirmed that Netanyahu spoke with Russia on behalf of Ukraine in the past, and Bennett discussed it when he met President Vladimir Putin in Sochi last October, which enraged the latter who described Zelensky as a "Nazi."
Putin advised Israel to stay away from this issue. Zelenskyy and Bennett discussed the situation in Ukraine, particularly the fighting around the capital Kyiv. The Israeli PM offered Tel Aviv's assistance with any humanitarian aid needed and updated the Ukrainian President on the steps already taken in this regard. Bennett reiterated his hope for a speedy end to the fighting and said that he stands by the people of Ukraine in these difficult days.

Ankara Offers to Mediate between Moscow, Kyiv
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 27 February, 2022
Turkey said it was exerting extensive efforts to halt Russian military operations in Ukraine, reiterating its offer to mediate between Moscow and Kyiv. In a phone call on Saturday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky that Ankara was trying to work towards the declaration of an immediate ceasefire “to prevent further loss of life and damage to Ukraine,” the Turkish presidency said. Also, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu asked his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov to end the attack on Ukraine during a phone call on Saturday. Cavusoglu told Lavrov that further military escalation would not benefit anyone. Meanwhile, the Council of Europe on Friday said it was suspending all representatives of Russia from participating in the pan-European rights body’s Committee of Ministers and its parliament over Moscow’s attack on Ukraine. The 47-nation Council of Europe said in a statement it decided to suspend the rights of representation of Russia from the committee and the assembly “with immediate effect.”Turkey abstained during the vote. However, it has repeatedly called the Russian invasion of Ukraine “unacceptable.” In a televised interview late on Friday, Cavusoglu said: “We don’t want to cut off the dialogue” with Russia, on which it is highly dependent for energy supplies. Erdogan accuses NATO and the European Union of failing to take a “determined stance” on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. “NATO should have taken a more decisive step,” Erdogan told reporters. “The EU and other pro-Western [bodies] have failed to take a serious and determined stance at the moment. They are all providing Ukraine with plenty of advice.”Ukraine asked Turkey on Thursday to close the Bosphorus and Dardanelles straits to Russian ships. Under the 1936 Montreux Convention, Ankara has control over the straits and can limit warship passages during wartime or if threatened. Cavusoglu said Turkey was studying Kyiv’s request but said Russia had the right under the Convention to return ships to their home base, in this case the Black Sea. The FM added that Turkish legal experts were still trying to determine whether the conflict in Ukraine could be defined as a war, which would allow the convention mandates to be invoked.

Iran’s nuclear negotiator returns to Vienna for talks on resolving remaining issues
Reuters/27 February ,2022
Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani will return to Vienna on Sunday evening for talks on resolving the remaining issues in indirect negotiations with the United States to revive a 2015 deal, the official IRNA news agency reported. Bagheri Kani, who flew to Tehran last week for consultations with Iranian officials, will “pursue the negotiations with a clear agenda aimed at resolving” the remaining issues, IRNA said. Nournews, which is affiliated to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council that is in charge of the nuclear talks dossier, said a council meeting stressed “the need to quickly resolve the remaining issues that border between agreement and dead end”. It did not name the sticking points, but the main remaining disputes appear to include the extent of sanctions rollback and questions about uranium traces found at several old but undeclared sites. “No restriction on time can prevent the continuation of the talks for a good agreement,” Nournews added. Iran has made clear it wants an end to the oil and banking sanctions that are hurting its economy, while insisting also on the lifting of human rights and terrorism-related curbs. On Saturday, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said Tehran was ready to “immediately conclude” a deal in talks to revive its 2015 nuclear accord with world powers if Western powers show real will. “Seriously reviewing draft of the agreement...Our red lines aremade clear to Western parties. Ready to immediately conclude a good deal, should they show real will,” Amirabdollahian said on Twitter. Ambirabdollahin is due on Tuesday to report to the Iranian parliament on the progress of the talks, local media said. On Friday, a senior US State Department official said negotiators had made significant progress in the past week or so on reviving the deal but very tough issues remained.
The pact was abandoned in 2018 by then-US President Donald Trump, who also reimposed extensive sanctions on Iran. The deal between Iran and world powers limited Tehran’s enrichment of uranium to make it harder for it to develop material for nuclear weapons, if it chose to, in return for a lifting of international sanctions against Tehran.Other parties to the deal -- Britain, China, France, Germany, and Russia -- have shuttled between the two sides during the Vienna talks.

Washington Hopes Iran’s Lead Negotiator Returns to Vienna Talks with ‘Positive View’
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 27 February, 2022
Negotiators have made significant progress in the last week on reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal but very tough issues remain, a senior US State Department official said on Friday. The US official said he hoped Iran’s lead negotiator would return in the coming days to Vienna, where the talks are taking place, “with a positive view” but that even if he did, there were still difficult issues on the table. “We hope that when Iran comes back, it comes back in with a pre-disposition to try to resolve this quickly,” the official told reporters on condition that he not be named.
“But there were still disagreements for which there is not a solution that's on the table,” Reuters quoted him as saying. He declined to name the sticking points and would not be drawn on whether Washington had persuaded Tehran to agree to follow-on negotiations on its nuclear program, its development of ballistic missiles or support for regional proxies. The broad aim of the talks is to return to the original 2015 bargain of lifting sanctions against Iran, including those that have slashed its oil sales, in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear activities that extend the time Tehran would need to make enough enriched uranium for an atomic bomb if it chose to. The US official said a deal, if one can be reached, would in many ways track the terms of the original accord on Iran’s levels of uranium enrichment, the stockpile of enriched uranium it may hold, and the numbers of centrifuges it may operate.
However, he left open the possibility of some modifications to account the additional sanctions that then-President Donald Trump imposed on Iran after pulling the United States out of the deal in 2018 and the nuclear advances that Iran has since made. The official also said there has not been any deal reached in separate negotiations about the release of four US citizens whom the United States believes have been wrongfully detained by Iran. Last week, sources close to the negotiations said a prisoner swap between Iran and the United States is expected soon.
“Now I believe some of them will be released, maybe five or six of them. But those talks about prisoners are not linked to the nuclear agreement, rather associated with it. This is a humanitarian measure by Iran,” Reuters quoted a senior Iranian official as saying on Tuesday.
State Department spokesperson Ned Price said on Friday that the US will continue to engage with Russia over efforts to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, even though Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine had made it a “pariah on the world stage.”Price said US officials would now only engage with Russia counterparts on issues of “fundamental to our national security interest,” including Vienna talks. “The fact that Russia has now invaded Ukraine should not give Iran the green light to develop a nuclear weapon,” Price stressed.

Libya, Morocco Sign Agreement to Protect Human Rights
Asharq Al-Awsat/Sunday, 27 February, 2022
Libya and Morocco signed a cooperation agreement to develop joint work in the field of human rights protection. The agreement was signed during the visit of the president of the Libyan Council for Public Liberties and Human Rights, Omar Hijazi, to Morocco. During the visit, Hijazi and the accompanying delegation met the head of the Moroccan National Council for Human Rights Amna Bouayach. The Moroccan National Council, a governmental body, announced in a statement on its official Facebook page that a partnership and cooperation agreement was signed between the two national human rights institutions. The Council declared that the agreement aims to establish and develop joint action and cooperation between the two sides to enhance the protection and advancement of human rights. Under the agreement, the two bodies agreed to exchange experiences, collaborate on issues of common interest and work together to identify and initiate joint activities in the fields of human rights and public freedoms that fall exclusively within their respective jurisdictions. Hijazi later held talks with Morocco’s Chief Public Prosecutor El Hassan Daki. Discussions tackled means of cooperation and exchange of experiences on the public prosecution’s role in protecting rights and freedoms. It is noteworthy that the agreement comes in light of the complaints of human rights organizations in Rabat about placing hundreds of Moroccan migrants in difficult human conditions in underground detention centers that lack ventilation and are flooded with rain.

The Latest LCCC English analysis & editorials from miscellaneous sources published on February 27-28/2022
Migrants Desecrate More Than 2,000 Churches Just in Greece
Raymond Ibrahim/Gatestone Institute/February 27, 2022
"As a deeply religious society, these attacks on churches are shocking to the Greek people and calls to question whether these illegal immigrants seeking a new life in Europe are willing to integrate and conform to the norms and values of their new countries." — Greek City Times, May 16, 2020.
While the report most likely has the 1453 sack of Constantinople (today Istanbul) in mind — when countless Greek churches, including Hagia Sophia, were desecrated, destroyed, or turned into mosques — that pattern is a century older.
Before Christmas, in the North Rhine-Westphalia region, where more than a million Muslim migrants reside, some 50 public statues of Jesus and other Christian figures were beheaded and crucifixes broken.
All around Western Europe, churches are under attack. This is especially true of the countries home to Europe's largest Muslim populations. In February 2019, "unknown vandals" desecrated and smashed crosses and statues at Saint-Alain Cathedral in Lavaur, France, and mangled the arms of a statue of a crucified Christ in a mocking manner. In addition, an altar cloth was burned. (Image source: Eutrope/Wikimedia Commons)
According to a new report published by Greece's Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs, there were 2,339 incidents of church desecrations in the country between 2015 and 2020, when tiny Greece, seen as Europe's eastern gateway, was flooded with migrants from the Islamic world. Greek City Times wrote regarding the report:
There appears to be a correlation between the increase in illegal migration and the incidents of attacks on Greek Orthodox religious churches and religious spaces during the five year period which occurred during the peak of the migration crisis."
In the most recent year recorded, 2020, there were 385 incidents against Christian churches and buildings, including "vandalism, burglary, theft, sacrilege, necromancy, robbery, placement of explosive devices and other desecrations."
Over the years, a few of these desecrations made it to English-language media.
In April 2021, Muslim migrants entered into and utterly desecrated a small church. Proud of their handiwork, they videotaped portions of the incident and uploaded it on TikTok. It shows a topless migrant dancing to rap music as he walks towards and inside the church. The next clip shows the aftermath: devastation inside the church, with smashed icons and the altar overthrown.
In 2020, Muslim migrants ransacked and transformed a church into their personal toilet. This public restroom was once the St. Catherine Church in Moria, a small town on the island of Lesvos, which was flooded with migrants who arrived via Turkey. "The smell inside is unbearable," said a local. "[T]he metropolitan of Mytilene is aware of the situation in the area, nevertheless, he does not wish to deal with it for his own reasons." The May 2020 report elaborates:
"This is only the latest incident ... [I]t has become extremely common for Greek Orthodox Churches to be vandalised and attacked by illegal immigrants on Lesvos....
"As a deeply religious society, these attacks on churches are shocking to the Greek people and calls to question whether these illegal immigrants seeking a new life in Europe are willing to integrate and conform to the norms and values of their new countries.
"These continued attacks have ultimately seen the people of Lesvos, who were nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2016, become increasingly frustrated by the unresolved situation that has restricted and changed their lives as they no longer feel safe on their once near crime-free island."
While there are many such examples from between 2015-2020 — in 2016, the Church of All Saints in Kallithea near Athens was set aflame by "Arabic speakers" — historically conscious Greeks see a continuum in the Islamic targeting of their churches. As one report on the desecration of Greek churches explains:
"We should remember that Greece spent 400 years under Turkish Islamic rule and that the fight for freedom was bloody. With that in mind it is even more dramatic seeing these images of fighting age migrants desecrating Greek holy places and having no respect for the country they are allegedly seeking refuge in."
While the report most likely has the 1453 sack of Constantinople (today Istanbul) in mind — when countless Greek churches, including Hagia Sophia, were desecrated, destroyed, or turned into mosques — that pattern is a century older. In 1354, when the invading Turks first achieved a foothold in Europe, in Gallipoli, which was then Greek, "Where there were churches he [Ottoman ruler Suleiman Pasha] destroyed them or converted them to mosques," writes an Ottoman chronicler.
"Where there were bells, Suleiman broke them up and cast them into fires. Thus, in place of bells there were now muezzins." Cleansed of all Christian "filth," Gallipoli became, as a later Ottoman bey boasted, "the Muslim throat that gulps down every Christian nation—that chokes and destroys the Christians."[1]
Modern Greece, of course, is ultimately experiencing what all European nations that have large Muslim migrant populations are experiencing. All around Western Europe, churches are under attack. This is especially true of the two countries home to Europe's largest Muslim populations: Germany and France.
According to a 2017 report, in the Alps and Bavaria regions of Germany alone, countless crosses on some 200 churches were attacked and broken: "Police are currently dealing with church desecrations again and again... The perpetrators are often youthful rioters with a migration background."
Following the arrival of a million Muslim migrants in Germany, a local newspaper noted in 2016 that "not a day goes by" without attacks on crosses and other Christian symbols outside of churches. Before Christmas, in the North Rhine-Westphalia region, where more than a million Muslim migrants reside, some 50 public statues of Jesus and other Christian figures were beheaded and crucifixes broken.
As for France, an average of two churches are reportedly attacked there every day. In one instance in 2019, vandals plundered and used human excrement to draw a cross on the Notre-Dame des Enfants Church in Nimes (smearing fecal matter on churches is not an uncommon Muslim tactic). Although the identities of those targeting churches is often left out of reports — as in February 2019, when "unknown vandals" desecrated and smashed crosses and statues at Saint-Alain Cathedral in Lavaur and mangled the arms of a crucified Christ in a mocking manner — on occasion they appear.
Thus, in 2014, an enraged Muslim man physically twisted a massive bronze cross with his bare hands while committing major acts of vandalism in two churches in France. He also overturned and broke two altars, destroyed Christian statues, tore down a tabernacle, smashed in a sacristy door, and broke some stained-glass windows. Similarly, in 2015, Christian crosses and gravestones in a church cemetery were damaged and desecrated by a Muslim man. After being apprehended, he was described as follows: "The man repeats Muslim prayers over and over, he drools and cannot be communicated with: his condition has been declared incompatible with preliminary detention." He was hospitalized as "mentally unbalanced."
The new report by Greece's Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs makes one thing clear: Greece has become the latest exemplar of "Islam's Rule of Numbers" — a rule which posits that the more Muslims grow in numbers, the more practices intrinsic to Islam grow with them, in this instance, the desecration of Christian churches. In Nigeria alone, for example, Muslims have torched or destroyed some 20,000 churches over the last decade.
*Raymond Ibrahim, author of Sword and Scimitar, Fourteen Centuries of War between Islam and the West, is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Gatestone Institute, a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center, and a Judith Rosen Friedman Fellow at the Middle East Forum.
[1] Doukas, Decline and Fall of Byzantium to the Ottomans, 1975, 144–145; Bostom, Andrew, The Legacy of Jihad, 2005, 63.
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Ukraine Crisis Has Sent Shockwaves
Omer Onhon/Asharq Al-Awsat/February 27/2022
The crisis around Ukraine had been looming for some time, with efforts to prevent further escalation. President Putin’s recognition of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic has carried the crisis to the next stage.
A day later, Putin took a further step and announced the start of “special military operations” in Ukraine. Ukrainian cities have been targeted with missiles and aerial bombings. Russian soldiers are reported to have moved into Ukraine from several points, including Belarus and Crimea. Fighting is continuing and thousands of people are fleeing. The world is in a shock in the face of what Biden called a reckless and unprovoked attack. Many of us around the world thought that there would be some sort of de-escalation after Russia’s recognition of the breakaway republics. What is Russia’s gameplan? Putin’s moves may be seen by some as brilliant and courageous but for most, as madness and foolishness.
What may Russia’s game plan be? Taking over a whole country of around 40 million people with outside military assistance and an improved military is not the same thing as taking over Russian minority-dominated areas. Invasion of Ukraine would not be sustainable and it would be self-defeating for Russia.
Among Russia’s aims could be; to cripple Ukraine, kill its fighting spirit, secure the Donbas region (whatever its boundaries are considered to be), cut off Ukraine from the Black Sea, topple the government and pave the way for a Russia friendly government.
To comment on what drives Russia to do what it is doing is easier.
NATO’s eastward expansion and threat to its security have been its constant argument. Putin said Ukraine has been turned into being hostile against Russia and hosts on its territories weapons of the West. Putin has also blamed the West for constantly lying and trying to deceive Russia. There may be a certain degree of truth in some or maybe all of these claims. But overall, what drives Russia’s strategy and actions is something else. Russia has not been able to come to terms with the collapse of the Soviet Union and its consequences. It has not been able to digest losing its superpower status.
In the 1990s and the beginning of the 2000s, Russia was not able to do much against the West’s shaping the new global order. Now things are different. Its military is in good shape, possesses very effective military capabilities, and has strong leadership. It also seems confident that economically it can sustain and counter any difficulties.
Putin’s Russia must be considering itself correcting what he referred to as the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century: the collapse of the Soviet Union. Russia is now designing its near abroad, shaping a new world order and Putin is building his empire.
The Russian minority in newly independent states which were parts of the Soviet Union until 1990 have been Putin’s main instruments in realizing its ambitions. Throughout centuries, during the Tsardom and later on during the Soviets, Russia settled ethnic Russians in conquered lands, driving away local populations. Forced population transfers during Stalin’s time completed what was started during the Tsardom. Crimean Tartars, Circassians, and Ahıskans are among the major victims of these policies. Hundreds of thousands have perished during the process.
Since 1990, Transtinyester, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Crimea, Donetsk, and Luhansk have come under Russia’s control one after another.
What is in progress reminds me of “Anschluss” and annexing Sudetenland, extending it to the whole of Czechoslovakia later. Putin, with his ways and means, resembles the person who gave the orders back in 1938. Just a few days ago Putin had said that Russia had no intention to invade Ukraine. Just like in Munich back in 1938.
Poor leadership and performance in the West encourage Russia:
The USA has been withdrawing in a very selfish and destructive way. Recall what happened in Iraq, Syria, and most recently in Afghanistan. All these and more, have created some very serious trust and confidence issues with the USA.
The European Union is desperately hopeless with too many different interests, over-ambitious leaders with limited capacities, and a lack of meaningful common policies including in the defense field.
Ukrainians were very vocal and loud about their bid for NATO membership. The European Union and the USA, the West in general, encouraged Ukraine in various ways. Ukraine, which was only happy to be encouraged, is now suffering the consequences.
Can NATO intervene? Despite several problems, NATO is the world’s most powerful politico-military organization. Well prepared and ready to counter threats.
US President Biden and Secretary-General Stoltenberg has from the outset made it clear that Ukraine maybe a partner but is not a member of NATO. Thus, any aggression against Ukraine is not covered by Article 5 of NATO’s founding document, the Washington Treaty. The principle of collective defense is enshrined in this article. This means an attack against one Ally is considered an attack against all Allies. The first and last time Article 5 was invoked in NATO history was after the 9/11 terrorist attacks against the USA.
What NATO has done on several different occasions previously has been taken to take collective defense measures, such as in response to the situation in Syria. But this is different than Article 5 and is also not applicable to Ukraine itself.
In short, Ukraine has the West’s support, it has received and will continue to receive self-defense assistance, but it does not come under NATO’s protective umbrella.
On the other hand, if this crisis is somehow spilled over to a NATO member country, within the framework of Article 5, NATO will respond.
Can sanctions change the course of events? Sanctions pouring in from the West look good and impressive on paper. But how effective they would be and for how long it will continue will depend on a number of factors. Unilateral sanctions cut both sides. In time, those countries which have applied sanctions may also be hurt. Parallel economies and ways to evade sanctions sooner or later are in play.
How willing are countries to carry on with sanctions, how well is Russia prepared to survive under sanctions, and whether it has been able to find alternatives are other factors to be considered.
Russia has energy resources as a weapon. Nearly 40 percent of Europe’s natural gas imports come from Russia. Europe would take a hit from rising prices and shortages in supplies. On the other hand, Russia would also lose if it can not sell its natural gas.
To minimize the negative effects of disturbances in natural gas exports to Europe, Russia has sought alternatives and this is where China comes in. The two countries recently signed a new agreement on increasing Russian natural gas exports to China.
US policies against China and Russia have brought these two countries closer to each other for some time now. The spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China made it clear once again China’s opposition to unilateral sanctions. In 2021 trade between the two countries stood at around 146 billion dollars which represented an increase of 36 percent compared to the previous year.
Russia has violated the territorial integrity of a UN member state and used military force to invade its territories. It must not be allowed to get away with what it is doing. Russia’s reasonings for its actions are mostly a smokescreen. Putin is designing Russia's near abroad with military force.
“If this is what happens to the biggest and strongest, just imagine what may happen to others” must be the thought among officials and peoples of former Soviet Republics.
It is a sad day for the United Nations. Deliberations there and the UN Secretary General’s desperate calls once again revealed how ineffective and sorry to say but even useless, the Organization may be in desperate times. The situation in Ukraine should have reminded all that when deterrence is weakened, security is weakened; when deterrence is lost, security is lost. This situation could go from very bad to a catastrophe. What is hoped is the immediate end of hostilities, withdrawal from Ukraine territories, and resumption of diplomacy.

Putin Can Safely Ignore Russian Critics of His War -- For Now
Leonid Bershidsky/Bloomberg/February 27/2022
The day before the fake “referendum” that handed Crimea to Vladimir Putin’s Russia in 2014, I marched against the annexation with tens of thousands other Muscovites — but a majority of Russians supported the move, and Putin’s popularity, measured by independent sociologists, soared to highs not seen before or after. Now that the dictator has launched an all-out attack on Ukraine, there will be no large-scale protests and no popularity bump. Seven years later, Russia is a different country — one that allows Putin to disregard it.
That, however, is hardly sustainable.
At the time of the Crimea adventure, Russia still had an active political opposition. Former deputy prime minister Boris Nemtsov was still alive and protesting loudly against the takeover. Most of my friends saw the move as the end of Russia’s civilized European path, a major defeat for the freedom project launched by the fall of the Soviet Union. By 2022, the opposition has been crushed, chased into exile or underground. Nemtsov was assassinated in 2015. When Alexei Navalny speaks out against the war on Ukraine, he does so from a penal colony where he’s been locked up for a year and where he’s being tried on further trumped-up charges. And when one of Navalny’s trusted lieutenants, Leonid Volkov, curses Putin on Telegram and expresses the hope that the dictator has bitten off more than he can chew, he does so from relative safety in a European Union country.
Some artists, TV personalities, writers and social network influences — not all of them still living in Russia — have expressed their shock and disgust. Nobel Peace Prize-winner Dmitry Muratov, the editor of Novaya Gazeta, still allowed to publish under a compromise with the Kremlin, has promised to put out an edition in both Russian and Ukrainian in protest against the war. Journalists, academics and more than 100 local legislators have signed antiwar appeals. But none of them will lead a big march through Moscow streets: Putin’s repression machine now works pre-emptively to neutralize protest. Activist Marina Litvinovich, who called for street protests on Thursday, was detained. Those Russians who dare take to the streets across the land likely face the same prospect: Official warnings already have been issued.
But although there will be no footage of big marches to prove that not all Russians accept Putin’s aggression, no polls will show a boost to Putin’s popularity, either. The regime has largely gotten rid of independent pollsters, but even the Kremlin-loyal ones aren’t registering Crimea-like approval levels. VTsIOM, for example, on Wednesday reported 73% support for the previous, much less radical Putin move — the recognition of the separatist “people’s republics” of eastern Ukraine. In 2014, the same pollster measured the popular backing of the Crimea annexation at 93%. A fresh CNN-commissioned poll shows 50% support in Russia for military action to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO — but even that number seems high. Russian respondents’ mistrust of pollsters — what if they work for the authorities? — is a constant source of distortions.
In March 2014, Putin’s support hit 80%, according to one of the few remaining independent pollsters, the Levada Center — and kept increasing as Crimea was integrated into Russia. Last month, with propaganda already blaring an anti-Ukraine message, Putin’s rating stood at 69%, close to the pre-Crimea level. It’s unlikely to rise when Western sanctions on Russia hit full force — and Russians know these are coming. There are lines at banks to draw dollars and euros. The biggest state bank, Sberbank, briefly published a notice on its website that it might soon be hit by sanctions, making things difficult for more than 100 million clients, but then quickly took it down, claiming a software error.
The Crimea moment was euphoric for many, since the peninsula was widely seen as both historically and ethnically Russian. Hardly anyone spoke Ukrainian there even pre-2014, and a lack of respect for Ukrainian authorities was palpable. The large Russian naval base, with a history of many wars, added to the perception, heavily promoted by propaganda outlets, that Crimea was “coming home.” But Russian missiles raining on the outskirts of Kyiv and Kharkiv, arms depots blowing up near peaceful Ukrainian cities — that, for many of the same Russians who welcomed the 2014 annexation, is the stuff of nightmares. Ukrainians are broadly perceived as a fraternal people; according to official statistics, Ukraine is at the top of the list of countries whose citizens Russians are most likely to marry. No matter what Putin might say about “denazifying” Ukraine, too many ordinary Russians have family ties and friendships in the neighboring country; they know their friends and relatives are not Nazis.
Russia’s biggest YouTube star, Yury Dud, spoke for many compatriots just before the invasion when he said,
I grew up in Russia, Russia is my motherland, and I’m proud to have a tattoo of the Russian tricolor on my forearm. But these days, my support goes to Ukraine, the birthplace of my kin and home to my friends.
Not that Putin cares, at least for now. It’s quite possible that all the screw-tightening the regime has conducted in the last two years, the crackdown on the opposition, the greatly increased risks for street protest, came in preparation for this moment. Putin is so insulated from the Russian street now that his regime is not in danger, no matter what drastic and unpopular steps he takes. What is less certain is the longer-term picture, with increasing economic isolation, potential paralysis in financial markets, the loss of hydrocarbon export clients. Russia’s financial cushion, including $643 billion in international reserves, can last for a long time, but not forever if the West’s resolve to maintain punitive sanctions endures. In a country as big as Russia, maintaining a climate of repression amid economic decline will not be an easy proposition even for a dictator as experienced and ruthless as Putin.

Russia Invaded Ukraine. What Happens Next?
Abdulrahman Al-Rashed/Asharq Al-Awsat/February 27/2022
There will be no ravaging World War III to end all life on earth. But there might be worse: protracted wars on multiple frontlines fought with traditional weapons and run by nuclear powers.
Even without the prospect of a World War breaking out, the Ukraine crisis stretches far beyond Ukraine itself, with deeper and riskier dimensions than believed. The NATO fears this is only the beginning and knows not what President Vladimir Putin’s plan after Ukraine is. Do the Russians have their eyes set on taking over –or taking back– several former USSR states under the same guises we heard this week, in the name of history, geography, land, religion, debts, protecting national security, responding to NATO expansion, and responding to the mayday calls of a separatist region or an opposition group?
Russia’s military activity in Belarus and Tajikistan reinforces the belief that the Putinian Russia project has just begun. Putin is a Russian Imperial Tsardom man through and through. He dislikes Bolshevik Russia, despite his mantra about taking the Soviet Union as a historical reference in giving back to Russia what is “rightfully” Russia’s. With the annexation of all or most of Ukraine, the world, or my generation, at least, will have seen a global affair come full circle with the return of the Cold War.
So, what could be Russia’s next step? Will Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia be the next prey? There are technically 15 former USSR states that nationalist Russians consider theirs and blame the West for their loss, a theory posited by Putin himself. In a previous speech, the Russian President outlined a political map of utmost importance to grasp what is happening now and what the future may hold, saying: “The leadership of the Communist Party made a lot of mistakes that led to the collapse of the USSR, planting a ‘time bomb’ under the Russian State, at the time called the USSR, by allowing Soviet republics the right to self-determination.”
The deeper dimension of the conflict is Putinian Russia’s determination to expand, at a time when the NATO and the West find themselves in a dire strait: going into a direct clash with a nuclear power is off the table, and entering Ukraine is a political statement that augurs a different world with as-of-yet unknown dimensions, even in other conflict zones across the globe.
A political solution seems far-fetched, such as the Ukraine crisis pushing major powers to seek a new coexistence formula built on the premise of refraining from using force to resolve conflicts, while taking into account the provision of security guarantees. In fact, this is the justification that Moscow reiterates in its objections to the NATO. There is no doubt that since the end of the Cold War, the world has missed the bipolar model. For all its faults, bipolarity at least guaranteed stability on major fronts.
The invasion of Ukraine did not come as a surprise. It was rather expected, as was the use of gas against Europe. Still, there will be no military solution at the level of major powers. As such, it is feared that the West will go for a military option that uses other frontlines in other states, in a bid to warn Moscow that what happened in Ukraine cannot happen again elsewhere.
As for economic sanctions, they are known to be an ineffective weapon, especially when used against systems that are willing to pay the price, dear as it may be. But ironically, the exorbitant costs of Ukraine’s invasion are being borne by the West and the other states of the world, what with the worsening inflation and the price hikes in vital commodities, like energy and wheat.

Putin’s Refugees Will Make or Break Europe
Andreas Kluth/Bloomberg/February 27/2022
Just on Day One of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, according to the European Commission, about 120,000 people fled their homes — becoming “internally displaced,” in the bureaucratic jargon. Roads and highways out of Kyiv and other cities were clogged. Again, that was just the first day.
How many Ukrainians will try to escape their country in the coming weeks and months depends on how brutally Russian President Vladimir Putin will subjugate it. And brutal it'll be, by the looks of it. Between one million and five million civilians could flee westward and into the European Union. The refugee crisis of 2022 is likely to make its 2015 antecedent look orderly, and rival that of 1945.
The Ukrainians’ first destinations will be the four EU countries that are direct neighbors: Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania. Of these, the first three belong to the Schengen area, which will allow Ukrainians to enter and stay for up to 90 days without a visa. Unlike the million or so Syrians, Afghans and others who came in 2015-16, this year’s tired, poor and huddled masses will be able to walk, drive or ride across the borders legally.
Right now, they’re likely to be embraced with compassion and hospitality — the first refugee trains arriving in Munich in 2015 were met by Germans holding bottled water and teddy bears. Poland and the other countries, supported by the European Union, are preparing special medical trains and logistics to temporarily house multitudes.
But how will the EU’s societies react in the medium and longer term? In 2015, an anti-migrant backlash formed even in liberal countries from Sweden to Germany. The eastern member states formerly behind the Iron Curtain closed their doors to migrants almost completely. Poland and Hungary, both led by populist far-right governments then as now, became the leaders of an anti-refugee EU resistance often laced with xenophobia.
In that obstructionist spirit, Warsaw and Budapest have since knee-capped all attempts by the EU to reform its migration regime. Called the Dublin system, it requires migrants to ask for asylum only in the member state they physically enter first. In 2015, this left the countries along the migration routes from Syria — above all Greece — exposed. Overwhelmed, they ignored Dublin and waved the refugees onwards to Austria, Germany and beyond.
Germany and others suggested a new regime, with joint policing around Europe’s external borders and a mechanism to resettle asylum seekers internally in proportion to member states’ size and wealth. But Poland, Hungary and others balked at all entreaties to show solidarity.
It didn’t help that both Warsaw and Budapest have simultaneously waged a rhetorical and bureaucratic guerrilla war against Brussels and the EU. They’ve undermined the rule of law, press and other freedoms. The EU has disciplinary proceedings underway against both. There’s even been talk of finding a way to kick them out of the club.
This time, though, everything could be different. Poland and Hungary will be on the front line, not the periphery. The refugees, who were mostly Muslims in 2015, are Slavic kin, at least for Poles and Slovakians. Poland is already home to about 2 million Ukrainians. And the cause of the migrants’ despair will not be the distant Syrian villain Bashar al-Assad but Europe’s — and especially Poland’s — arch-bogeyman. That’s the one in the Kremlin.
Until recently, an inability to manage migration looked like one way the EU could fail as an entity and idea. That’s what its enemies — like Putin and his bestie, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko — try to exploit, by herding refugees toward the bloc whenever they can.
But in 2022, the penny may finally drop in all 27 member states. The EU, an idealistic peace project based on soft power and democratic values, must realize that it has real, nuclear-armed enemies, which it must stare down as one. That may mean finally forming a European Army, and syncing it with NATO. But most immediately, it means burying internal hatchets, and reforming migration.
Poland and Hungary should immediately drop all their other sniping against Brussels and ask for its help in accommodating the Ukrainian refugees. The EU should give that help graciously and then find new systems to deal with refugees and other problems.
Putin just launched a vicious assault on Ukraine, the post-Cold War order, and indeed truth itself. If anything good is ever to come from this disaster, let it be that he accidentally unites Europe.

While standing up to Putin the West must leave the hypocrisy behind
Rami Rayess/Al Arabiya/ February 27/,2022
Now that the war in Ukraine has become a reality, it is worthwhile to revisit the reasons that have led the world to reach again an unimaginable situation where it stands on the brink of a Third World War. Primarily led by Washington, the West has been quite hypocritical when dealing with the crisis right from the beginning. The US administration has been doing all to push Moscow to initiate the first strike. Not only did Washington and its allies celebrate the downfall of the Soviet Union and its security organization The Warsaw Pact, it has also extended the influence of NATO eastwards, reaching the frontiers of Russia.
The West has argued that it has the full right to support Ukraine’s sovereignty against any potential Russian aggression and this is not under dispute. In parallel, Moscow has the reciprocal right of sending troops and missiles to other parts of the world, such as Cuba if Havana requests it. Russian and Cuban relations are warming, highlighted by the Kremlin’s Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov visiting Havana last week. Cuba has also called upon the US and NATO to address Russia’s security concerns on its borders. In international relations, what applies to the West must equally apply to the East, and this includes what’s unfolding in Ukraine with Russia the aggressor. As it continues to rest its eyes on Taiwan, China’s aggression will no doubt follow Russia’s tactics eventually. Powerful states can impose their political will on weaker nations. Colonial approaches still control much of Western policies that address pressing global issues. Despite raising the slogans of democracy, human rights, and the historically famous right of self-determination, the West does not hesitate to overlook these principles when its interests are at stake.
Take the example of British policies towards the long-forgotten Chagos archipelago in the Indian Ocean. Despite the efforts of Mauritius, which is located off the eastern coast of Africa, to claim its sovereignty on the group of islands based on undisputed legal and historical facts, the conflict continues. London has uninterruptedly refused to recognize the Mauritian claim. However, the latter gained the support of the United Nations General Assembly, the UN’s International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the UN’s Tribunal for Settling Maritime Disputes.
This also reminds me of the Falklands War led by Margaret Thatcher back in 1982 when the “Iron Lady” refused to surrender when Argentina invaded the islands off of its coast. The ten-week conflict reflected how colonial policies are entrenched in the minds of the Western decision-makers. In spite of the setbacks for long lost empires suffered from conflicts of liberation and the rise of sovereign nation-states the West remains convinced it knows best. Suppose the West is reversing the trend of “decolonization” to blow the multi-polar world that has advanced after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. In that case, it must expect a strong retaliation. Russia in 2022 is not the same Russia of 1991. Moscow has reclaimed much of its global power that had faded in the last decade of the 20th century. It has succeeded in regaining much of its role on the worldwide stage. Syria, Libya, and other regions around the globe set a clear example of this ascending role.The rise of China and its close ties with Russia vis-à-vis the West is also a factor that we cannot disregard. Though the Chinese are haunted by the economy and consider it the primary gate to consolidate their global power, they have cemented their bi-lateral relations with Russia and developed a strategic partnership against Washington.
They brought several West antagonists, such as Turkey and Iran into their fold. The short-sighted Western policies have hindered all the efforts of arms control and have led, in one way or another, to a significant deterioration in this regard. It has always been the case where the West would ignite conflicts around the world to perpetuate the wellbeing of the arms industry. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is reprehensible, and could become the undoing of Vladimir Putin, but the perpetual view that the countries of the West are the good guys is deeply flawed. If the West does adhere to everything it claims it stands for, that includes the principles of promoting democracy, human rights, and non-interference in the affairs of other states, it’ll need to change its ways and leave the hypocrisy behind.

West has to confront the Iranian regime immediately
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh/Arab News/February 27, 2022
The Iranian regime has long aligned itself with Russia to advance its geopolitical and ideological interests. While the US, UK and EU develop their strategies in response to the Ukraine crisis, they must not lose sight of the fact that other Russian forces recently coordinated with Iran and China for naval exercises in the Indian Ocean, thus signaling the continuous growth of an anti-Western bloc whose threat extends well beyond the bounds of NATO.
If left unchecked, Russia’s military moves could embolden different kinds of aggression from Iran, which in recent weeks has used its regional proxies to launch drone attacks on the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
But at the same time, if the international community focuses too much on the crisis in Ukraine, it runs the risk of giving Iran a green light to expand its similar actions, secure in the knowledge that its leading adversaries will be too distracted to offer a suitable response.
Iran’s belligerent approach to foreign policy has only intensified since last summer, when the regime effectively appointed hard-liner Ebrahim Raisi as its new president. The change of leadership led to a five-month pause in the negotiations in Vienna that are aimed at restoring the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.When Iran finally returned to those talks in November, it did so with an even more unreasonable set of demands, including an impossible guarantee that the US would never again withdraw from the deal and for relief not just from nuclear-related sanctions, but also those that target its human rights abuses and terrorist activities.
The situation in Vienna has always been complicated by the fact that Russia and China are parties to the JCPOA, alongside the US, UK, France, Germany and the EU. Those complications are made far more serious now that the Russian incursion into Ukraine has raised questions about the future of Western relations with Moscow. With Russia facing an influx of new US and European sanctions, Putin’s representatives in Vienna will have even greater incentive to back the unreasonable Iranian demands that have defined those talks for the past two months.
Russia’s pending isolation could also prompt further expansions in military and economic cooperation between it and the Iranian regime, to the detriment of Western leverage over both. With that in mind, US and European policymakers must resolve to exploit the available leverage immediately.
Russia’s pending isolation could prompt further expansions in military and economic cooperation between it and the Iranian regime.
If Tehran does not immediately sign up to a longer and stronger nuclear deal when the negotiators next meet, then the Biden administration should move to reimpose the Trump-era “maximum pressure” policy on the regime, but this time with the backing of all America’s European allies. The more economically weakened the regime becomes in the short term, the less valuable it will be to Moscow as a tool of sanctions evasion in the longer term.
Furthermore, increasing pressure on Tehran under the present circumstances could have transformative effects for the region, ultimately depriving Russia of its existing lifeline in its entirety. This is because the Iranian regime has been the site of historic popular unrest ever since a nationwide uprising in January 2018 and the regime now appears to be struggling not only to manage that unrest but also to maintain its hold on power.
The 2018 uprising prompted Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to acknowledge, for the first time, that a pro-democracy opposition group known as the National Council of Resistance of Iran had expanded its social influence. In November 2019, another uprising encompassed many localities and also featured slogans demanding the removal of the theocratic dictatorship. The authorities fiercely cracked down on that unrest, killing 1,500 people in a matter of days. However, just two months later, protesters were back on the streets in more than a dozen provinces.
One of the key figures in that crackdown was Raisi, who was then the head of the judiciary. His subsequent move to the presidency was widely recognized as Khamenei’s endorsement of further political violence, particularly against the NCRI. In 1988, Raisi had served as one of four officials on the Tehran “death commission” that initiated a massacre of political prisoners, expressly targeting the oppositional group and claiming 30,000 lives over the course of three months. But far from intimidating the public into silence, Raisi’s promotion elicited new protests and an election boycott that resulted in the lowest voter turnout for a presidential vote since the advent of the regime.
The only way to confront Iran is by drastically changing some aspects of the situation that have allowed its relations with Russia to flourish. Although truly punishing sanctions on each country may be a step in that direction, the seriousness of the emerging crisis calls for a bolder gambit.
*Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a Harvard-educated Iranian-American political scientist. Twitter: @Dr_Rafizadeh